Helen Marian Inglis

Helen Marian Inglis died peacefully on April 7, 2026 at Pleasant Valley Manor in Armstrong, BC.

Helen was born on May 12th, 1943, first daughter to Stewart and Mary (Simpson) Inglis. She was raised on a farm in Tummel Manitoba near Roblin. Her sister Jan was born 5 years later. Helen helped with the work of a mixed farm: growing gardens, getting eggs ready for market, and driving the truck during harvest time. She attended a small 3 room school and had only 3 others in her grade as was common after the war years.

After completing school Helen earned a teaching degree at Brandon College. Her first teaching positions were in high schools in Wawanesa, Manitoba and Portage la Prairie, Manitoba where she primarily taught geography, history and English Literature.

When Stewart and Mary retired from the farm and moved to Vernon, B.C., Helen also moved to the Okanagan where she taught at Charles Bloom Secondary in Lumby and Vernon Senior Secondary School.

She enjoyed living in various parts of Vernon and eventually moved to  Stepping Stone Estates outside of Vernon, where she lived for many years. She was an excellent cook, often hosting many progressive dinners in the community.  All her homes had beautiful gardens that she built up over time. They were also home to several rescue dogs all of whom adored Helen. She was an excellent golfer as can be attested to by a Hole in One trophy. Right from her first paycheck she had a passion for travelling and over the years visited most continents. 

During her busy teaching career she gave many volunteer hours to community theatre groups and choirs. She had a deep concern for justice and the environment and for preserving Canadian history and traditions. Helen’s capacity to attend to detail and her memory for sequences of events made her a perfect historian. She studied archiving through the Royal BC Museum and became an avid recorder and story teller of the local region, putting in many volunteer hours archiving for O’Keefe Ranch and gathering information about the history of Spallumcheen. She researched and wrote about the colourful story of James Dun-Waters, significant to the beginning of Fintry, and to Armstrong’s Interior Provincial Exhibition. She also was a ghost writer for several years offering writing and editing services to people keen to get a story into the world. 

Throughout her life Helen struggled with what in the 1990s the medical system  recognized as Asperger’s syndrome, part of the autism spectrum, a condition in which otherwise lively highly intelligent people often find some social situations surrounding friendships and communication to be difficult. This may result in loneliness and frustration which if undiagnosed may be treated ineffectively by antidepressants.

In 2014, Helen moved to Heaton Place seniors residence in Armstrong, a community she had always loved because of the natural setting and neighbourliness. In December 2025 she went to Pleasant Valley Manor in Armstrong.

Helen was predeceased by her parents Mary and Stewart Inglis and survived by her sister Jan Inglis.

Arrangements entrusted to

Cypress Funeral & Cremation Services 250-546-7237

Condolences may be expressed to the family by phone or email through Cypress Funeral & Cremation Services: